Five Years Running
by Shadow131
Summary: Five years ago, Terry's cousin left Gotham. Now she's back, and knows his secret. Can Terry stop Blight AND handle a new partner all in one summer? Please R+R! Flames will be used to cook my lunch! (I'm hungy^^)
1. Memories Past

Five Years Running: Chapter 1: Memories Past

  
  


Blight's greedy eyes focused onto the barrels of the toxic waste he, as Derek Powers shipped out daily. He was running out of room in the large underground cavern his under cover men had found, and the many, some what dirty companies he paid low budget to ship out the radioactive muck had refused, and many disappeared under reasons unknown to himself and others. Someone, or something was driving them out of business, and Powers had a good guess who.

"Move faster!" he barked, as the men moved the heavy barrels on to the fork lift. "If he doesn't know already, he'll know soon!" Him being what Gotham knew well of, but in some ways ignored.

"I'll have to say it Blight," said a shadowy voice that couldn't be pinpointed. "I must be falling in a rut if I'm that obvious." The sound of a shout of fear came from the two men Powers had put on guard. And with that Batman came blasting in kicking people in the stomach. 

"Kill him, kill him!" Blight shouted at the top of his lungs as Batman easily slipped past the twenty some people tackling him, and went for Blight himself. 

Blight had been waiting for that very thing and clicked a button. A caged of pure steal fell with a crash around Batman as Blight saluted him and climbed onto the lift fork as it drove of to dump the chemical waste where Batman hadn't discovered.

"Stupid, stupid Terry!" he said, hitting his head after everyone had gone. He took off his mask, drying his sweaty face. "They got away Mr. Wayne," said Terry in a bit of shame.

"Indeed," said a somewhat quiet Bruce. "There'll be other nights McGinnis," he said as he clicked on the large computer which was in the Bat Cave. "You can come on back if you like. They won't show up again tonight, and I doubt there will be anything of consequence this late at night. And if so let one of Gordon's little monkeys take care of it."

"You don't have much faith in the GCPD do ya Mr. Wayne?" 

Bruce was silent and simply said, "Come on back Terry."

Eventually Terry made it back and was sitting on a stool in the Bat Cave, his mask rolled into a ball, tossing it from one hand to the other, summing up his courage to ask a simple question of the old man.

"Mr. Wayne may I go home a little early tonight? It is the first day of summer vacation after all," said Terry.

"Date with Dana?" he asked unmoved. Though this was a big thing on Terry's mind, it wasn't the reason. Between school, his girlfriend and his family life, and job, Terry was surprised he hadn't dropped dead of tiredness yet. He, at times, marveled how the man did it. And now that summer was here, Mr. Wayne would probably expect him to work during the day as well, and Dana would demand, and deserve more time out of Terry, and the excuse of a job wouldn't cut it with Dana much longer.

"No," said Terry. "My cousin from Metropolis is coming by train for a three week visit. It's an early train and my mom wants me to pick her up. That's all." Bruce lifted an eyebrow but said he could go.

It was the way it always was whenever Terry left work, speeding on his motorcycle, lights whizzing past, only he had something else on his mind. Normally it was sleep. Tonight it was something completely different. 

Terry hadn't seen his cousin, Emily Mackenzie, in five years. Oh sure there was the occasional e-card on birthdays and holidays. And there was the yearly family reunions too. But the conversation consisted mostly of "Hi. How are you? That's good to hear. You still have your girlfriend? Oh what's her name? Oh yeah that's right, Dana. How's Gotham? Well I kinda expected that, after all, it is Gotham. How's your brother? How's your mom?(when his dad had been alive) how's your dad? That good to hear. So I guess I'll talk to you later then. Bye," and then she'd smile and walk off. Only they never talked to each other again. And if his mother found her, she'd tell her where he was and Emily would simply say "Yeah. I saw him. We talked," and that was that.

Granted it hadn't always been like that. Emily used to live in Gotham, and because she had no siblings, the two were constantly together. But when Emily turned twelve, she and her family moved out of Gotham. The last time Terry remembered them actually talking like they used to was four years ago at the family reunion. She scanned every where for Terry, and when she found him, the two couldn't be pulled apart for all the money in the world and spent the rest of the night with each other. They had been best friends, Terry and Emily....And Terry missed that.

Every now and again he had the greatest wish to call her up and yell at her. He would say "Look Mackenzie, I don't know what it is I did, but why do you hate me?! It's not my fault you moved! So get off your high horse and tell me!!!" But Terry never did, so he never knew why his cousin had distanced herself from him....

So why was she coming now? Couldn't she just leave him be? His life was already a mess so why did his cousin have to all of a sudden get into the picture? He asked his mom this (though not in the same way) and she replied that they hadn't really seen her in so long and that it would be nice to see her again. Terry knew she was lying. He could always tell when anyone was lying and she was doing it now. Something was up, something they weren't telling Terry....

Matt was, naturally, overjoyed to learn that his cousin was coming and he suggested they keep Emily here and send Terry back on the train to Metropolis. This was just before Terry would feed him a pillow. Matt didn't really remember Emily too well, granted, he was five when she moved. But to him, anyone who was different then Terry, had to be an improvement. 

Terry parked his motorcycle in the garage and walked up to the apartment where he and his family lived. He walked in the door and called out "Mom! I'm home!"

"Oh great," moaned Matt. "Thus ends paradise,"

"Oh shut up," said Terry and he walked to his room. He put his backpack down and flopped onto the bed. There was a soft "thunk" as a picture went from his desk to the bed. His black cat Spec curled up next to him purring as he stroke it's head. He picked up the picture and was about to put it back when he realized what it was a picture of.....He even remembered when it was taken too.....

It was the fourth of July. Because Emily was just two days older then him, and their birthdays were so close to the fourth of July, they celebrated it in one big party conglomerate. It was the year Terry and Emily turned twelve. The last birthday they'd spend together, though they didn't know it then.

They wore the most ridiculous hats, the kind shaped like a cone with confetti in a big puff ball at the top and little ribbons of it on the bottom, just so they could laugh at each other. They ate pizza and watermelon, played games and got presents from their relatives. But Terry and Emily didn't give each other their presents till the first set of fireworks went off. 

Emily led Terry to the back of the car and opened it up to reveal a box with a black kitten with a red ribbon around it's neck. Terry's crystal blue eyes widened and sparkled as he picked up that tiny thing. He called it Spec, because of the tiny white dot on it's forehead, but that would go away in time. He never let that kitten out of his sight for the rest of the evening.

Terry's gift to Emily was much more expensive, but had no less or more value and love behind it then the kitten. Terry had saved up his allowance since December, just for that one gift. 

Terry handed his cousin a small black velvet box tied with red ribbon. Emily looked at the box, then at Terry, then the box again. In anticipation, she slowly untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside was a 24 carrot gold necklace. Emily gasped and she wiped away tears of joy. She threw her arms around Terry saying thank you, thank you, thank you.....

"I'll always remember this Terry.....Forever and ever......," she whispered in his ear and still sniffing put the beautiful gold thing around her neck. It was then Mary McGinnis took a picture of Terry holding his kitten, and Emily, with her hand on Terry's shoulder wearing her new necklace. They spent the rest of the evening sitting on the green grassy hill, watching the city of Gotham light up under brightly colored fireworks....

Although he tried not to, Terry couldn't help but to smile, remembering pleasantly the year he turned twelve. But then he started thinking of the day Emily left.....Just one month later....

Her parents told Emily that they were moving to Metropolis because Gotham was just to unsafe now, and they worried about her constantly when they weren't there. She had argued that Metropolis was now better, seeing as how Superman had died years ago, and the city was just as terrible as Gotham. Her parents other reason, one which made at least a little more sense, was that Metropolis was at least a little more eye pleasing. This was true. Gotham had always had this ere of bruting mystery, even when the capped crusader was around. While Metropolis on the other hand at least seemed to have hope for the next day, when Gotham always seemed just as bad as yesterday....

But still Emily protested. She would be leaving behind Terry and Matt and all of her friends. Her entire life. She'd always lived in Gotham, and everything she knew and loved was right there. She refused to go, saying she'd run away and live in a garbage can if it meant staying in Gotham. Of course she wasn't about to attempt this, but was seeing if she could get her parents to sweat and decide to stay. Their perspiration level remained the same.

Terry watched as the movers packed boxes filled with belongings that used to hang on walls and sit on tables. Emily just sat in a corner and cried. She gave Terry the biggest hug and said she wouldn't go. She was staying right there! Eventually her father had to sling her over his shoulder after ripping her apart from Terry to get her to the car. She pressed her face at the back window looking back at Terry, who chased after her car, and had his father not grabbed his arm, he probably would have chased them all the way to Metropolis.....Terry could still see his cousin's face and hear her crying, pleading sobs.....

Terry sighed a bit more depressed. This was the cousin he had loved....Not the one he knew now....This one he wanted nothing to do with, but she was coming for three agonizing weeks. His mother said it would give them good quality time together. Terry laughed under his breath. But still....He almost wished it would.....Because in his heart, although he'd never admit it, he really missed his cousin....

That same year Terry became "friends" with Charlie Bigalow, and landed himself three months in juvenile hall....

Terry glanced at the clock. 9:00. His brother came in and said "when I turn seventeen, you won't see me going to bed at nine." Terry buried his face in the pillow and said "you would if you worked for Mr. Wayne," and Terry booted him out the door. He would have to be at the train station by six tomorrow, and he'd have to get up at five so he decided to get some sleep.

"What? Do you hate me or something?! It's not that I ever did anything to hurt you!"

"No Terry! You just let them take me! You never called! You never wrote! You said we were best friends who, no matter what, would always be there for each other! But you weren't there Terry! You weren't there...." 

Terry woke up in cold sweat. It drenched his face as he mopped it with his sheets. He glanced at the clock. 2:00 am. He moaned and wondered exactly what he had dreamt about. There was voices. His voice and someone who sounded like an older version of his cousin. They were yelling about what he still wasn't sure. Something about hate, love, friendship, betrayal....As Terry puzzled over this, he fell back to sleep, and it was dreamless....

He awoke in the morning to find his brother bouncing off the walls with excitement. Surprise, surprise. Even his mom seemed a little anxious for his cousin's arrival. Terry ate his cereal and got dressed. He didn't remember the dream last night and was dreading his cousin's coming. Dana called him on his cell phone as he drove in the car his mom let him borrow.

"You said as soon as-" said Dana

"I know Dana and it stinks! But I told you! There's no way I can weasel out of it! My cousins coming for three weeks! I really am sorry," replied Terry.

Dana moaned. "Ok Ter. We'll work it out some how." They finished their conversation and Terry hung up. 

After about an hours drive he reached the train station. He always admired the sleek silver bullet trains that sped about as fast as one of the old Jets that people like Bruce Wayne would have taken. He mingled with people till he found the right landing, and as people began to get off, he looked for his cousin. And then stepped off.....

  
  


To be continued....

  
  
  
  



	2. Tyger, Tyger

Five Years Running: Chapter 2: Tyger, Tyger

  
  


....And then stepped off a beautiful young woman, or at least almost. She had long brown hair with a book bag slung across her shoulder and sunglasses hiding what was her brown eyes. But what caught Terry's attention was what she was wearing. A gold necklace.

He waded his way through the sea of people till he was close enough to shout at the girl.

"Emily?" called out Terry. The girl took off her sunglasses and looked around to see Terry's waving arms.

"Terry?! That you?!" she called and ran up to him, giving him a big hug, which he neither expected nor wanted. "I missed you! It's so good to be here!"

Terry was having trouble breathing by this point and choked out "I missed you too."

"Oops. Sorry," she laughed and smiled. Terry took her other suitcase and led her to the car. As they drove back into the heart of the city there was silence. What do you say after five years of a brick wall? 

"Sssooooo....." started Terry. "I see your wearing a gold necklace. The one I gave you? Remember?" Emily looked down at her neck, fingering the gold chain.

"Yeah. I always wear it. Unless I'm asleep or taking a shower or something," and she smiled. "How's Matt? And your mom? And your-" she stopped her self. "I heard about your dad....Terry, you've got to know I'm really sorry about that," and she made a face of sadness. She had been very fond of her uncle.

"Yeah. I know," replied Terry. He was having a flashback. Four of them at once. The first one was the family reunion, the second was the family reunion, the third, the family reunion, and lastly, the family reunion. Always the same topics. Matt, mom, Gotham. Terry was so tiered of hearing it. "There all good," he said. "Gotham's good too."

"How did you know I was gonna ask that next?"

"Call it a hunch," and for a while, there was silence.

"I heard you got yourself another masked man in town. Oh what is it? Catman?"

"Batman," corrected Terry.

"Yeah that's it. Batman. What's he like?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never met the guy." Emily looked at Terry suspiciously. She could always tell when he was lying, and she thought he was doing it now. She shrugged it off though. After all, she really didn't know this cousin of her's anymore.... 

"Heard you got a new job," said Emily. "Working for Bruce Wayne. That must really be something."

"It's ok."

"So tell me about it. What do you do?"

"Oh you know. Run errands, right things down. This and that." More lies. Emily could tell he was lying now, but said nothing.

"Mmmhhhmmm." said Emily. That was pretty much all they really said and were silent for the last half hour of the car trip.

Terry led Emily up to the apartment and opened the door, dragging in her bags. Matt ran up to her and gave her the biggest hug.

"Oh Emily, I'm so glad you're here and-" Matt stopped when he saw Terry. "You mean you didn't put him on a train to another state?" Terry through a pillow at his brothers head.

Mary McGinnis stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. "Oh Emily! You're here! My goodness! Your part weed the way you've grown!" she came in and hugged her niece. 

"It's so good to see you all!" smiled Emily.

"Terry," said Mary, "why don't you put your cousin's bags in the guest room and we'll all sit down and talk." Terry did this and Emily held on to her book bag.

"Sssoooo....." said Matt, "Did you bring me anything? Did ya, did ya, did ya?"

"Matt! That's rude!" said Mary.

"No it's ok. I brought you all something." First she held out a package for Matt, with green paper and a red ribbon around it. He ripped at it like a wolf for the kill, revealing a little package with a Batman figure inside. Matts pupils went to the size of bowling balls as he unwrapped it.

"Way cool! Thanks Emily!" and he threw his arms around her. She laughed with the pleasure she had instilled in her young cousin.

"Well, your mom said that Batman was the coolest thing out there, and there's this shop in Metropolis that makes custom figurines. And I just had to know from the coolest ten year old if Batman was really all that," and she laughed again. Matt proceeded to have Batman fight off the evil striped couch. 

She next pulled out a bulky package for Mary with lots of padding. It revealed a flower pot painted with flowers. Mary gave small tears of pleasure looking at the pretty thing and hugged her niece.

"I painted it myself," said Emily. "I thought you might like it. Now last, but definitely not least, Terry." She held out a red package with gold ribbon to Terry. He glanced at his cousin, but then took it. He slowly unwrapped it, revealing a hard cover copy of the most popular book in Gotham! It was scarlet red with gold lettering.

Metropolis and Gotham shared a lot of the same fads. For instance, the splicing fad had started in Gotham, but became very popular in Metropolis. Well, Tyger, Tyger, was a fad started in Metropolis, but had moved onto Gotham. Terry had read it before but not in book form. Books were rare and expensive and near impossible to find. Most books were on cd-rom's which you simply popped into the computer and read. And hard cover books were all the more precious.

"Emily. This must have costed you a fortune!" exclaimed Terry.

"No! About $50 all together. I bought one for me to. See?" she pulled out her own hard cover copy, only her's was blue with silver lettering.

"Thanks," said Terry and he hugged her.

"Suit up Terry," said Bruce. "Terry? Terry? Hello?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Bruce," said Terry and he put his book down.

"Good book? I'm surprised your reading."

"My cousin got it for me."

"Hard cover and everything. Seems very nice. So how was your cousin? Does she know what your doing?"

"She's fine. And I don't think she knows. At least not yet."

"Your not going to tell her are you?"

"She's sneaky. I'm hoping she doesn't find out is all."

"We can worry about it later, now suit up!" said Bruce.

Back at the apartment Emily was reading to Matt who was asleep next to her.

"....He grabbed his net, the large grey cat like thing ran towards him, feet pounding on the ground. His back was turned yet he could her it. Twang! went the sound of the net as it latched it's sharp ends into the rock cliff and Tygress against it. 

'No!' he cried.

'So you can talk,' replied the man as he slowly walked up to the creature.

'My father taught me!' Tygress shouted angrily

'Your father was a test tube,' said- Matt? Matt? You awake little buddy?" Matt was sound asleep. Dreaming he was trying not to get eaten by his own form of Tygress no doubt.

"Aahhh...He's sound asleep," said Emily smiling. She picked him up and tucked him into

his bed. 

"Aunt Mary?" called Emily.

"What is it dear?"

"I think I'm going to take a little walk around Gotham. It can't have changed that much."

"No, it hasn't, but by your self?" she called from the kitchen. Mary heard the door close and knew her niece had already left. She sighed. She had forgotten how much Terry and she were alike. This was going to be a hard three weeks....

Emily wandered the city streets. It was good to be out of the house, the cool, crisp air was refreshing. Cars and motorcycles zipped past and the lights shown like stars. So peaceful and calm, the city at night. All of a sudden she was knocked off her feet.

"Gemme your purse girly," shouted a man dressed up like a clown. Jokerz. They suddenly surrounded her. She swung her feet around his ankles and moved away just in time, to avoid being crushed.

"And what are you all supposed to be?" she asked, skeptical.

"We're the Jokerz! Most feared thugs in all of Gotham!"

"Sure you are." 

This angered them and the leader held up a gun. "So you gonna give us your money, or do I have to blast in your head?" Emily looked around her and was completely relaxed. She'd handled worse in Metropolis.

"Given the choices, I'd say no," she replied.

"Your funeral." and he held up the gun and as he fired, she rolled out of the way, jumped up and knocked one off their bike. She climbed on quick and went speeding off.

"Find anything on Blight yet?" asked Bruce through the radio. 

"Not yet, replied Batman." In another part of the city, Batman noticed that the Jokerz were chasing after something. He adjusted his vision and saw it was his cousin! "Emily? What an earth?!"

Meanwhile Emily was dodging heavy fire and speeding as fast as she could. "Come on, come on!" she muttered to know one. 

Terry was speeding off in the direction she was headed, but knew all to quickly what it was. "She's going towards the cliff!" cried Batman, and raced off.

Emily was going faster and faster when she realized up ahead, the road stopped. She braked as fast and hard as possible, but she had pushed the bike too hard, and it was skidding along. It wouldn't stop in time! She closed her eyes as the bike fell of the cliff, but she realized she wasn't falling. She was being raised up! She looked up and saw Batman holding her arm and carrying her up. She clutched his arm and he brought her down in an abandoned building. It was an old gun factory and it's leftovers littered the ground. She was completely amazed

"Your...your....your Batman!" she exclaimed. Then she gave him a hard stare. "....Your Terry," she determined. It all made sense. Terry's lying, why he had rushed off so quickly, why his mother didn't even know what it was exactly he did at night. "And Bruce Wayne was the old Batman!" she shouted again. 

"I think one of those bullets lodged it's self into your brain," he said. And he turned to go, but she grabbed his arm. 

"No. Your not leaving. Not till you tell me the truth McGinnis!"

"I'm not Terry!" 

"Why are you lying to me?! Did I ever betray you before?!"

"I don't even know you! Let me go!"

"I know it's you Terry! And I know when your lying!"

"Let GO! I don't know what your talking about!" shouted Terry. Through the radio in the bat suit came Bruce's voice: "Terry, tell her the truth." "No!" Terry shouted back.

Emily kicked a box behind her with her foot. A pistol went up in the air and landed in her free hand. She aimed it for Terry's head.

"Don't think I don't know how to use one of these cause it only takes five years in Metropolis till ya need em. Make you a deal. If I'm right, you've got to let me help you. If I'm wrong, I'll walk away and we'll pretend this never happened."

"How can I trust you?" asked Batman.

"Because I'm your cousin. Flesh and blood and I love you."

"What if that's not good enough?"

"Then your not who I thought you were. Of corse, you stopped being the Terry I knew when I moved away. When I heard you were friends with Charlie Bigalow, and that you landed yourself in Juvy. But I still trust you with my life, and you saved me. And I haven't blown your brains out yet. Good enough?"

"No," he replied.

"Will you settle for it?"

"I guess," her hand shook with nervousness as she reached for the mask.

"I hope I'm right," she thought. She pulled it out to reveal Terry's head and she sighed and laid her head on Terry's chest. "Told you I knew when you lied," she said.

Emily sat in a room that was completely desolate. The only view there was was tinted glass and she couldn't see through it.

"I don't care," said Bruce. "The answer is no. No Batgirl."

"But I made a promise!" argued Terry. "At least see how she does. There's more to her then you can possibly imagine."

"Fine. Give her a test, but that's it, and remember Terry. My standards are high. I doubt she'll make the cut."

In the room appeared three batarangs, stuck into a plate of steel. "Get out the batarangs and fire them at your opponent. Your objective is to get the rock on top of the platform," boomed a disguised voice.

Emily laughed. "That's it? No prob!" and began to tug at the 'rangs. It was impossible to tug out, she tugged and tugged and tugged, but to no avail. She looked at the steel plate. Something had to be holding them in place. She examined it carefully, but noticed nothing. But then she thought she saw something glint. Like a piece of silver. It was! Pure silver! A button! She pushed it and out they popped. She held the three like playing cards. "This is too cool!"

She heard something behind her and before even looking at it, she turned and slammed a batarang into an android.

"Ha!" she laughed. And threw a second one at the approaching robot on her right, and without thought, her left. "That's it?! That's your big tough guys!?" she called at the glass and proceeded to do a victory dance! "Yeah! I rock!"

"Proud isn't she?" said Bruce to Terry, though he wouldn't admit it, he was silently impressed.

"You should see when she wins in real life," said Terry who was doing his nervous habit of rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

As Emily was showing off, an android crept up behind her and was about ready to strangle her, but she heard it first. Wham! She simply slammed her fist behind her and into it's face.

"That was too easy," she said and rolled, jumped and grabbed a bar in order to swing herself onto the platform, but all of a sudden the bar broke and she was hurtling downwards. As the bar broke she swung and grabbed onto the very edge of the platform. "Don't let go, don't let go, don't let go," she thought silently and with great effort pulled herself to the top. She grabbed the rock and jumped down with ease. 

"Well?" asked Terry.

"Good," said Bruce.

"Told you!"

"But she isn't going to be Batgirl."

"What?! She did awesome!"

"I said you could give her a test. Nothing more."

"But that's not fair! Bruce?! Come on! I need all the help I can get!" cried Terry.

Bruce smiled. "I guess you do huh? Fine. Bring her out. We'll see."

Emily was shaking in excitement. "I'm going to be Batgirl! This is way too cool!"

Bruce was digging in a closet. "So do you have a high performance Batgirl suit?" asked Terry.

"I made your suit, Terry , when Batgirl was still helping me. I figured....Anyway, I wasn't getting any younger. I saved it. Barbra quit just after I finished it." He pulled out a suit that was identical to Terry's except it almost had a utility belt, had a blue bat symbol, blue boots, no gloves, and instead of a whole head cover, just a tiny blue mask to cover the area around her eyes. He handed it to Emily.

Her eyes went wide. "It's beautiful!" she whispered. She hugged Bruce who was rather shocked but in his own way pleased. "Oh thank you Mr. Wayne! I promise I'll do the best I can! When do we start?"

"Tomorrow night," said Bruce. "But if you want you can do a little detective work from the computer."

"A hunch?" asked Terry.

"We'll soon find out," replied Bruce.

A bit of recorded film from the other night with Blight ran over the screen. "It's the same. thing as always, and if Emily and I don't get home soon, my mom will flip!"

"Maybe not," said Emily.

"No, trust me. She'll flip and I'll be the one to get in trouble!"

"Not that!" said Emily. "The film! Bruce? Can you magnify that shot right there?"

"The one of the barrels?" he asked.

"That's the one." He magnified it a few times until she could read it.

"Huh? That's funny."

"What's funny?" asked Bruce.

"Those barrels. They say Wayne-Powers Industries. Hey Mr. Wayne, isn't that your company?" Emily said. Bruce's fist clenched.

"Powers!" he growled.

"You think he's hired Blight to get rid of the stuff?" asked Terry.

"Maybe," he said. "I think it's time to do some detective work as Terry and Emily."

"What did you have in mind, 'cause I don't like the way that sounds?" said Emily.

"The annual business dinner and dance is next Wednesday. Powers will be there. And now, so will I. With the accompaniment of you two...."

  
  


To be continued....


	3. Dancing With A Sleeze Bag

Five Years Running: Chapter 3: Dancing With A Sleeze Bag

  
  


....Emily had been working with Terry for Mr. Wayne for two nights now, and Wednesday had come. Mrs. McGinnis was all to happy to see Emily and Terry getting along so well and was glad that Mr. Wayne even had wanted to let Emily have a summer job there. What she didn't know was what the two did. Emily had the same excuse as Terry.....

What they had been doing was looking over the city, for any sign of Blight, but he was smart, and was keeping a low profile. Batgirl was starting to get her own reputation, not just as Batman's side kick now....

"So what kind of a dinner dance is it? Why would Mr. Wayne want you two to go?" asked Mary McGinnis. 

"It's uhh...It's uuhhh..."Terry stalled. He hadn't thought about his mother asking him, and he had no alibi set up.

"It's a business sort of thing," said Emily, quickly covering for her cousin as she ate her breakfast. "Mr. Wayne said there would be a lot of important speakers and he wanted us to right things down." Emily cringed as she said this because she hated to lie, but she couldn't possibly tell her aunt that they were going so they could weasel information out of an unsuspecting Derek Powers.

"Well then I suppose you'll have to go shopping," said Mary, sipping her coffee.

"Shopping!" exclaimed Emily in joy.

"Shopping?!" moaned Terry.

"Sure." said Mary. "Emily probably didn't bring anything real fancy for a dance and Terry, you need a new suit anyway."

"You should see the one I where at night," thought Terry.

  
  


"What do you think? This? Or this?" asked Emily, holding up two dresses.

"They both have sparkles and are equally annoying," said Terry.

"It's called sinus Terry, and they aren't annoying,"

"You've trained him to shop? I'm impressed. What's your secret?," said a girl. Terry turned to find it was Dana!

"Dana! Thank you! She wants my opinion on every article of clothing in the store!" cried Terry.

Dana held out her hand to Emily. "I'm Dana Tan. You must be Terry's cousin Emily."

"Nice to meet you," and she shook her hand.

"Now Terry, your just the person I was looking for. I need help on picking out new shoes," said Dana. Terry moaned.

  
  


Terry sat in front driving with Bruce next to him. Emily sat in the back, and all three kept on poking at something in their mouth with their tongues.

"I know these little radios that fit over your molars really work well, but do they have to be so uncomfortable?" asked Emily.

"Sorry," said Bruce. "It's the only thing I could think of. This way we'll hear whatever one person is saying, and we'll ALL hear the information when we get it out of Powers."

"Here it is," said Terry as he steered into the parking lot of the Gotham Convention Center. 

The three walked in, Mr Wayne, wearing a suit, went first. Terry, also wearing a suit, went second. And Emily, wearing a white dress with sinus on it, went last. It went in rank order.

They sat down at the head table, Bruce on one end, Emily and Terry on the other, with Vice Presidents, Company Treasurers, Secretaries, and others taking up the middle. Derek Powers sat next to Bruce. It was a small table, slightly oval shaped, but it wasn't crowded.

Food was being served up and Emily personally envied the people who brought it to the tables. She felt ridiculous. 

"You two do something," Bruce whispered just soft enough so that the radio could pick it up but nothing else could. Music was playing and a few couples were dancing. "Dance. Do something," he ordered again.

"Dance?" asked Terry, also whispering. "I don't really ballroom dance."

"He's got two left feet," whispered Emily. 

"I do not!"

"Liar."

"I don't have two left feet."

"Yes you do! Remember in third grade when we took those dance lessons and you were my partner? My feet were under ice for days!"

"That was hard dancing though!"

"You can't dance."

"You wanna bet?"

"Your on!" and Terry grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor.

"Well Bruce. Looks like you've gotten yourself a new assistant. Terry not cutting it?" asked Powers.

"You can never have too much hired help Derek," replied Bruce. "And for the money they make off of it, they put up with me." Powers laughed and for a little while the two acted pleasant. Imagine the money they would have made had they been actors.....

Bruce heard a sharp "OW!" and looked at the dance floor to see Emily and Terry arguing while they danced.

"Quiet you two!" said Bruce.

"Well if TERRY would just learn to dance...."

"Shut up Emily!" 

"OW! Your stepping on my foot again!"

"I am not!"

"You two are impossible!" exclaimed Bruce. Finally the song ended and Terry walked back to the table. Emily went to get some punch.

"Where's Powers?" Terry asked aloud because no one else was at the table. Bruce hadn't even noticed him leave.

As Emily poured punch into a plastic cup she could hear Powers talking with someone on his cell phone in the corner. "I think I found him," she said.

"....That's 11:00. 11:00 tonight! I don't want to have to risk getting him getting in the way again!" said Powers into his cell phone.

"Bruce? You getting all this?" whispered Emily into the radio. 

"As if he was right next to me." he replied. Emily walked tiny steps over to see if she could get anything else. Powers clicked his cell phone shut and Emily, who wasn't looking where she was going, tripped over someone's feet. Punch spilled everywhere and she felt VERY embarrassed.

"Ah," said Powers, seeing Emily on the ground. "Ms. Mackenzie. Let me give you a hand," said Derek and he held out his hand and helped her up.

"Thank you Mr. Powers," said Emily who was now trying to think how she could cover up her accident and still get the info out of Powers. Music played and a few couples danced.

"Would you so honor me with this dance?" he asked. Every nerve and piece of moral fiber in Emily wanted to laugh in his face and refuse, but she remembered her manners, and her molar was telling her to say yes.

"Go ahead," said Bruce. "Out of any weapon feminine charm works best."

"Feminine charm?" asked Terry. "Emily isn't charming."

"You're her cousin so of corse you wouldn't think so. Powers on the other hand...."

"It would be my pleasure," said Emily who was thinking that any minute now she would get the biggest liar of the year award. So he lead her onto the dance floor and they danced. It was Powers thinking that had he been quite a lot younger and she quite a lot older that he might have been so bold as to kiss her, because even though she was only seventeen, she was very pretty, and Emily could tell this and was thanking God that she was only seventeen.

"So did you move to Gotham or something?" asked Powers trying to make friendly conversation.

"I'm visiting Terry and his family for three weeks," she replied.

"Old friends?" he asked.

"He's my cousin," she replied.

"That is a very nice necklace. Where did you get it?" Emily had forgotten she was even wearing it because she wore it all the time.

"Terry gave it to me for my birthday."

"That's very sweet. So why did Mr. Wayne take you on for a summer job? Terry not cutting it?"

"Oh Terry does very well, but he could use a bit of help here and there, and Terry isn't always good company."

"I see," said Powers and for a while the two were silent. 

"Think fast Mackenzie," thought Emily. Then she got her clever idea.

Back at the table, Terry, Bruce and a few others were talking and commenting on Derek and Emily dancing together.

"I'm personally glad I wasn't born a girl," said Terry. "Or else it might be me out there dancing with Mr. Powers." They all laughed at this and even Bruce managed to chuckle.

"Come on Emily! Hurry it up," whispered Bruce into the radio.

"Mr. Powers, I need your advice," said Emily.

"And why would that be Ms. Mackenzie?"

"I'm thinking of taking a business corse in collage and maybe starting my own business," she lied. "and Mr. Wayne said that his biggest problem when running the company was where to put all of those nasty chemicals," she lied again. "He also commented on how awfully expensive it was to legally ship them out. Well suppose my business' funds are down and I can't afford to pay the price? Where then would I dump the stuff? I know you would never have a problem like this but even the most honest business man, such as your self, must have a back up plan." This was fast becoming a lie filled night.

"Well then I would hire someone low wage to ship it out."

"What if that get's closed down? You can never have too many options."

"Land fills," he said.

"There are only so many land fills Mr. Powers."

"Hhhmmmm....This is certainly challenging. Well, do you know of the mountains out side of the city limits?"

"Yes," she said.

"Well I heard somewhere that there are numerous amounts of caves there. There the stuff would be more then likely safe," he said.

"Is that what you would do sir? Faced with the same problem? Truthfully? Or at least hire someone to do?" she asked.

"Yes. I believe I would," he replied and the music stopped. 

"Thank you Mr. Powers," she said smiling. "That was quiet educational," and with that she sat down "I'm gonna get you for making me do that McGinnis," she glared at Terry.

"Me? I didn't make you do anything!"

"I told you she had feminine charm," said Bruce who was smiling to himself....

  
  


The three sat in the bat cave....They had left the party around nine and Bruce wanted them to leave by 10:30

"So what does Blight look like anyway?" asked Emily.

"You know what a skeleton looks like?" asked Terry.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Think that only lime green, radioactive, and able to melt through steel."

"I'm gonna have pleasant dreams about this, I can tell,' she said as she fiddled with something on her batgirl suit. She didn't have a full face mask like Terry, so she had an ear piece instead. She added a button to it and while holding the ear piece up to her ear, tested it.

"What are you doing?" asked Terry.

"You'll see," she said, and with that they waited till it was time to suit up and be off. 

"So are we gonna use are jet boots all the way to the mountains or what?" asked Emily. Terry pulled out what looked like a remote control and walked Emily over to a large plane like thing. He pushed the button.

"Emily," he said. "Welcome to the bat plane." Emily's jaw dropped as she beheld the thing of iron and electronics. 

"This is unbearably cool!" she said and hopped in to the back seat as Terry pushed the button and the cockpit door opened.

"Hold on," said Terry and with a zoom they were out of the cave. It took them about fifteen minutes just to see the mountains. 

"Computer," said Terry. "Scan mountain for radioactivity." The computer pinpointed a spot near there and they closed in on it.....

  
  


To Be Continued....

  
  



	4. Lost and Found

Five Years Running: Chapter 4: Lost and Found

  
  
  
  


....The Bat Plane landed smoothly on the steel surface of the mountain cave. It looked like a laboratory, or a storage house, or a combination of the two.....

Batman walked up to the first steel sliding door and ripped off the key pad lock. The door didn't budge.

Emily looked at him and sighed annoyingly. "Let me help she said," and threw a batarang right in the crack of the door. It beeped five times and exploded. The door slid open and they walked inside. There was another door with no key pad and the door behind them shut. Batgirl ran to one while Batman went to another. But with all their might and gadgets, the doors wouldn't budge. 

"Well this is just great!" said Terry, sitting on a wooden box. "What are we supposed to do now Batgirl?" asked Terry. She didn't respond. "Batgirl? Hello? Paging Emily!" he called.

"....I'm in love with a guy that I don't even now and-," she was singing.

"Batgirl!" Batman yelled, which made her stop singing. She clicked the button she had installed earlier and her face went bright red with embarrassment. "So that's what it was," thought Terry. "A radio. Does she think this is a game or something?!" Terry sighed and hung his head annoyed, trying to think.

"Yo, what's up? You look upset," she said.

"No really," said an annoyed Terry.

"What is your problem?!"

"You are my problem ok?!" Emily glared at him. How could he say that to her?!

"Whatever. What did I do?!"

"Why did you have to come to Gotham anyway?!" yelled Batman. "Didn't you make me miserable enough when you lived Metropolis?!" This got her mega unhappy and she went over there and slapped him in the face.

"Listen you rat with wings, I haven't done anything to you since I got here, and I never said I was moving here ok?!??!!!" Terry glared at her.

"You really want to know why I'm mad?!" he asked.

"Yeah I do!" she said.

"You're my best friend for twelve years and then you just move away. Then you never talk to me. At least at the first family reunion after you moved, you acted like I was still your cousin and important to you! Then you come here and decide to act all chummy and then you have to be my partner and all that crud! Why can't you just leave me alone! Not like you care any way!" 

"Is that what you think?! That I don't care?! The day I moved was the day I died on the inside! If I didn't care about you then I wouldn't be vacationing in Gotham City and I definitely wouldn't be risking my butt out here!"

"You sure have a great way of showing it...."

"You haven't even been what I've been through! Don't ever say that to me!" she was right up in his face now. "After I saw you again, things seemed the way they always were. That lasted four hours and then I left the reunion! Do you know how I felt?! Do you even know what that did to me?! That day I learned that the only way to avoid getting hurt is never get close to someone who you know you'll have to say goodbye to as soon as you've said hello! That ripped me apart Terry! Do you know how lonesome I've been? I never had any really good friends, and never had a boyfriend. I was too scared of getting hurt. And you know my parents, they were certainly no help! It was probably the stupidest mistake of my life, but if you were in my shoes, can you honestly say you wouldn't do the same?!" she yelled.

"Emily?" said Terry.

"What?!" she yelled at him.

"I"m sorry." She glared at him and then burst into tears. She put her head on his chest and cried her eyes out. 

"Oh Terry! I"m so sorry! It was so selfish of me! I'm so sorry," she broke in between sobs. She wiped away her tears with her hand and they sat there a while. Suddenly the door ahead of them slid open, and the two stepped inside.

It was empty, save a few barrels of toxic ooze. Without warning, the door behind them shut and stuck.

"I don't like this...." said Batgirl. "It feels too much like a trap."

"Yeah and we fell in it," replied Batman. The steel covering plates of a window slid open to reveal Blight, laughing his head off.

"That's right!" he cackled. "Now I can get you out of the way for good!" Batman's batarang hit the shield, but it did no good. "Bullet proof you fool! Do you think a flimsy piece of metal can pierce it?!" and he laughed more. All of a sudden he was gone and a green, smoke like gas was filing the air. The two collapsed on the ground, coughing. Emily, holding her throat, managed to stand and called out.

"Batman!" 

There was no reply....She called again, but still he didn't answer.

"Terry, where are you?!" thought Emily. She called again, this time, stumbling through the smoke. She tripped and fell over Terry! "Oh no!" she thought. "Please God no!" She grabbed his arm and after quite a lot of effort, she knocked down the door, and managed to drag Terry into the bat plain.... 

  
  


To Be Continued....

  
  



	5. Crying Sky

Five Years Running: Chapter 5: Crying Sky

  
  


Emily sat on a bench in Terry's hospital room. He had taken in great amounts of poison gas. Too much. Emily, who had breathed very little of the stuff, had made it out alright. The poison killed a lot of the cells Terry needed to help him breath, so a machine was what kept his lungs pumping. It was like and acid, burning the throat, eyes, nose, and lungs as Emily remembered. It burned like a dragon was breathing down your throat. "Terry...." she'd whisper now and again. She had a few cuts and burns but wouldn't get them treated. She was staying by Terry's side.....

"Well?" cried a distressed mother's voice Emily recognized as her aunt. "Where is he? Is he alright? What happened?!" Emily could hear the occasional sniff and sob coming from Matt who was clinging to his mother. Dana stood a few feet behind, shedding silent tears.

"Please Ma'am. Calm down. He was driving in his car and a bomb exploded in the building next store." That's what Emily had told them happened. The nurses assumed she was telling the truth. A well trained doctor, that's what Emily was worried about. What else could she tell them? That she and Terry got caught in one of Blight's little traps and were lucky to be alive? Of corse not....

Mary, Matt, and Dana burst through the door. Dana bit her lower lip to keep from sobbing, but silent tears creased her face. Matt ran right up to his brothers bed and shook his shoulder.

"Please! Terry! Wake up! I'm sorry for every mean thing I ever said and did! I promise I'll be a better brother if you just wake up! Please! Terry!" Mary grabbed her young son's shoulder and pulled him close. He threw his arms around her and just sobbed whimpering Terry.....

"It's not going to help now Matt...." she said, stroking his head. "Don't you worry, Terry is going to be alright." She looked at Emily and went to talk to her when a nurse came in and asked her to step out side and discuss things with them. Dana looked at Emily, then at Terry, and with a large sob, went back out into the waiting room.

The sound of heavy feet and a cane echoed through the hall. It stopped and nodded it's head in recognition at Mary.

"Bruce...."whispered Emily.... 

"I'm sorry Mr. Wayne but it's immediate family only. You'll-" said a nurse trying to keep him from entering Terry's room. He blazed past her as if she weren't there and walked into Terry's room. Emily bit her lower lip and rubbed her red eyes. He sat in a large chair next to Terry's bed and looked at him.

"If Terry dies," he thought. "I swear I'll kill Blight myself...." "How bad is he?" he asked aloud of Emily. 

"He lost nearly a third of the cells in his lunges and is in a coma. The coma isn't the worst of his problems though. He got so little oxygen until the doctors hooked him up that their worried about brain trauma." whispered Emily. Bruce glanced at the clock. It was 5:30 a.m.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked.

"No," she said. Suddenly Mary came in as Matt waited with Dana outside. The doctors scurried like lab mice around Terry and began taking off the machine. "What's going on? Aunt Mary what are they doing?"

"Sweety I'm sorry, but even if Terry does survive the chances of him leading a normal life again are slim. It's better if we just put him out of his mise-"

"No!" shouted Emily, interrupting her. "You can't do that! Terry's gonna live, I know it! Please Aunt Mary!"

"Emily I-"

"If he's exactly the same by night fall or worse, by all means kill him, but he's still got a chance! Please!" she begged.

"Emily...."

"Please Aunt Mary....Please...." Mary bit her lip not knowing what to do anymore.

"Alright," she said. "Until tonight," and she smiled. She went out and Bruce followed her, offering to pay for Terry's bill.

"Worker's comp...." as he called it. Emily kneeled next to Terry's bed and held his hand.

"Please Terry....You can't die....I can't lose you again....Not now....Not ever," and tears slipped down her cheeks. She wrung her hands and bowed her head. "God? If there is a God....Please, please, you've got to help Terry. I....I know his record isn't exactly clean, mine isn't either, but the pastor said....he said if I just had faith, then everything would be ok.....Well, I"m here to tell you, I'll live up to that if it will save Terry. I put his life, I put my life in your hands....Please God....Can you hear a poor sinner girl like me? If it's the only thing I ever ask from you then please let it be.....Just save Terry....." and she cried and sobbed. Bruce came back in and she rubbed her puffy red eyes. "I....I think I'm going to take a walk Bruce....." she said. "I need some air, and some time away from this awful place....." and she walked out the door and didn't even stop to talk with her aunt, cousin or Dana. She just walked right out of that hospital into the still cool air of Gotham City. There was a breeze that blew at her face and began to cool her hot, teary face. Light grey clouds covered the sky and the breeze became a strong wind, and then a gust. Emily still didn't mind, she didn't even notice....She just thought about Terry....

It started to rain, and then pour, but Emily didn't care. She had always liked rain....It seemed to sympathize with her....

She rubbed the water out of her face and licked it away around her mouth. But then it started to taste salty and her face felt hot, despite the cold, pouring rain, and strong wind. Then she knew why.....She was crying....

She leaned against a brick building and cried and cried. "God save Terry!" she shouted in the empty streets. "God save Terry...."she whispered..... 

  
  


To Be Continued....


	6. Little Grace

Five Years Running: Chapter 6: Little Grace

....Emily walked back into the hospital, dripping wet. It still poured outside and a nurse handed her a towel as she came in. She went to talk to her aunt Mary.

"Emily," she said. "Terry....Terry is going into cardiovascular failure.....The chances of him making it through are....well...." Emily bit her lower lip. Her cousin was dying and she couldn't help him.

"Let me just say goodbye," said Emily and she entered her cousin's room. She held his hand and began talking to him. "Funny isn't it?" she whispered. "You hate my guts, and then when we finally get along, you have to leave me....I'm gonna miss you forever," she said and a tear rolled down her cheek. All of a sudden the steady beep of Terry's hear rate went flat....Terry's heart had stopped. "Terry," Emily cried. "No Terry, please don't leave me!" but he wasn't listening to her, and she lay her head on his chest and sobbed.

"Bbbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppp, Beep, beep, beep," was the sound of the thing that told weather her cousin was alive or dead, but it had changed! From the steady monotone of death to the beep, beep, beep, that meant Terry's heart was still beating! Terry blinked his eyes open and looked at his cousin who stared at him dumbfounded.

"Emily? Why are you crying?" he asked.

"Terry!" she shouted. "Your alive!" and she sobbed for sheer joy as the nurses came in when they heard his voice.

  
  


About one week later Terry came back to work. In the mean time Batgirl had done a lot of training and kept the city in check for the most part. They soared the sky, on a look out for Blight.

"Feels weird to be flying again," remarked Terry.

"Don't push yourself to hard," said Emily. "Cause I'm not about to walk into a hospital and explain to your mother your dying again." They laughed.

"If you two are done, I asked you to go to the Wayne-Powers building and scan for Blight,"

"Yes Mr. Wayne," they said in unison and laughed at each other again. The glided onto the roof of the building, and after turning on their invisibility, snuck in.

"Batman," said Batgirl. "I'm picking up a lot of radiation in the south wing."

"That's him," he replied. "Let's go." They snuck in and listened to Blight, barking orders. He had thoroughly enjoyed Batman's break, and seeing as Batgirl was still a rooky, she couldn't track him alone.

"Move faster!" he barked as the people scurried about.

"May I?" asked Emily.

"Be my guest," replied Terry. There was a slice of a batarang and it caught Blight full in the back. The 1,000 volt electric shock threw him to the floor as he pulled the thing out with his bio-hazardous hand. He weakly stood up just to see Batgirl's foot catch him full in the chest. Batman punched him in the jaw, while Batgirl was tossing off a few of his henchmen. Blight ran toward the power grid and Batman threw a batarang his way. He missed by two inches, hitting the power cord, causing every thing to go black. 

"Where did he go!" yelled Batgirl. "You'd think a green, glow in the dark skeleton would be hard to miss." The lights flickered on again, but Blight was gone. His boys were still there though, so the two made quick work of tying them up. The sound of police sirens whaled in the distance, and Terry and Emily scattered before they got there.

"Why do they always get away!" Terry exclaimed in the solitude of the Batcave.

"Cheer up McGinnis! There will be other days. The important thing is that that scum Powers isn't gonna be able to ship out anymore of that toxic crud. Right?"

"Yeah...." said Terry. "I guess we partly won......"

Emily stayed for another week, but things were pretty quite in Gotham City. For the most part, the two made up for lost time, and things went well. But Emily had to leave some time....

"You sure you can't stay another week? It's not like your parents are going to care!" said Terry as he carried her bags onto the train.

"Terry, you know I can't do that. Who knows, maybe I'll make that scholarship to Gotham University," replied Emily, who fingered her gold chain.

"But what if I need your help again?"

"Then I'll come faster then you can say help. C'mon Ter. You're my friend and my cousin. No matter if I'm a million miles away, I'll never leave. But I'll miss you," and she gave him one last hug before walking towards the train. 

"Oh! Terry! One word of advice!" she called out to him and he walked over to hear it. "It may seem like quitting time is years away, but, and I think Mr. Wayne can back me up on this one, it can always surprise you," and she turned to leave.

"I don't understand!" called out Terry.

"C'mon McGinnis! Which time are you wearing the mask and which is real! When it comes right down to it, which life are you willing to give up!" called Emily.

"Emily wait!" called Terry. He didn't want her to go. She couldn't go now. Not when things were going his way.

"Bye Terry!" she called out again, and then whispered, "I'll miss you...."

"Bye Emily...."whispered Terry. Then his cell phone began ringing, and wonder of wonders, it was Bruce. 

"McGinnis, there's been a break in at a chemicals lab. Suit up and check it out."

"I'm on it Mr. Wayne," and he shut his cell phone and whispered to himself. "Which time AM I wearing the mask?"

  
  
  
  


The End

(Meaning not to be continued:))

So what do you think? It's my first time doing fan fiction. I've definitely read better, but I think that was pretty good. Be sure to e-mail me what you think:) 

  
  



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